Last Night in Paradise

 Last Night in Paradise by Katie Rophie

1997

Weight: 9.7 oz

Method of Disposal: Donating

Do I love everything that Rophie has put out in the world? No.  Do I love most of it?  No.  Did I buy this before I knew much about Rophie?  Yes!  Was I disappointed when I found out more?  Definitely.  Did I still read it?  Absolutely!  Did I hate it?  I did not!  It took me too long to read it for sure but, when I did, I felt transported to a time when AIDS had been around long enough that people realized it was not a "gay disease"  but not so long that people were not still terrified.  I really enjoyed Katie's voice and perspective, and I did not feel like I was holding a mirror up to my own feelings, memories, and opinions, which can be a real positive experience. I do not read to find out what I already think.  I do think it was even better to have read it so many years after it was written.  Living in the moment but being so young and getting bits and bobs of the news and pop culture, buying into some of the fear tactics, and then later living during Covid and looking backwards and then looking to where we are now, it brought some pieces together and made for good retrospection.

That being said, I do think it is possible to cross a line into not being helpful and into being proactively hurtful.  I could live the rest of my life without needing to read anymore of her thoughts on date rape, sexual harassment, and #metoo.  

Women and Aids

 Women and Aids by Jane Richardson
1988
Weight: 7 ounces
Method of Disposal: Donating

This book is extremely dated at this point, but it was interesting to read for so many reasons.  Living through the start of AIDS and the start of COVID would have been wildly different for so many reasons, but, having lived as an adult during the time of a pandemic, there are certain things I feel like I was more attuned to or attentive to now.  Not just the fear and the unknown, but the attempt and the struggle to manage people's reactions and to preserve a sense of humanity.  The constant reassurance that we can all still care for each other and that our fear should not make us react with hatred.  It should not make us ostracize sick people.  

Another thing I found interesting was reading this and knowing the strides we have made sense AIDS blew up on the scene in the 80's.  I could fill in some of the missing gaps in information and answer some questions.  Some things I had to Google, and I learned that way.  In other areas, I was sad to know that there were still so many things happening then that are still happening now.  The author was seemingly a compassionate person who recognized homophobia, racism, ethnocentrism, when possible, and that was much appreciated.

All in all, this was a quality book.  It was clearly more useful when it was written than it is now, but it is an excellent layout for how to write a sensitive, helpful guide on a virus that people do not know much about.

Jailbird

Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut
1999
Weight: 9.6 oz
Method of Disposal: Giving to Mom

There is nothing better than reading Kurt Vonnegut when you are disappointed in people and the state of the world.  He makes the deplorable sound lighthearted and funny, in a dark, poignant way, of course.  I was reading this book and thinking, "I wish I had a Kurt Vonnegut book about life in a pandemic.  That would bring me some joy right now."  I guess Galapagos is the closest I can think of to that, but it is not what my hopes and dreams are made of.  Instead, I have moved on to Happy Birthday, Wanda June. I have never even considered a Vonnegut play.  I am a little unsure about how that will go.

I have received word that there is one named Slapstick!  Or, Lonesome No More that I need to check out.  I am excited about the idea of that because I do not own it, nor have I read it.  He was so prolific that, even when I think I have read them all, another can be found by going down the Google search rabbit hole of "Kurt Vonnegut, Jr."

At one point, while reading Jailbird, Harry asked me what it was about.  I read her the back cover, and her eyes glazed over.  She just began laughing.  Once she was through with her fit, she said it sounded like the most boring book around and thought it was funny that I was reading it of my own free will.

So, here we go.  It is a history of America!  It includes Sacco and Vanzetti, Watergate, McCarthy's hunt for Communists, the Cleveland Massacre.  You briefly meet immigrant laborers and coal miners, labor union organizers and women who work and die due to their work in factories.  Even a of those women!  There is so much packed into one novel, as is common for Vonnegut.

It is not that this is my number 1 top favorite Vonnegut of all time, but he has a way.  Whether I love his books a little, a medium, or a lot, they still have me laughing and just feeling connected in some way to someone else.  I am not sure who so do not ask.  He is the master of witty and one line can just pop up and stick with you forever.  Truly.  I have one tattooed on my back, maybe not forever, but for a lifetime.

This book was about greed, capitalism, America, politics, and power told through the life of a poor man raised as a wealthy man--a Harvard man--named Walter Starbuck.  Who would think that could be a "fun" read?  Thank God, for Kurt Vonnegut.  That is all I know for sure.